


Ghost Kiss

by ThatDamnKennedyKid



Series: The Hokage's Mansion [3]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Gen, Orochimaru being cuddly, Punished for the sins of others, Self-Doubt, Self-Loathing, body image issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-22
Updated: 2014-07-22
Packaged: 2018-02-09 22:29:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,681
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2000325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatDamnKennedyKid/pseuds/ThatDamnKennedyKid
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ara, born in the likeness of one of Konoha's greatest enemies, is constantly under fire from the adult world. Even her Hokage and sensei, Naruto Uzumaki, cannot comfort her. </p>
<p>Ara's cousin, Terasu, however, has created a jutsu based off forbidden jutsu that may allow her to meet the man who made her life a living hell before she was born. Maybe she'll even learn why the adults insist that she must always be "Orochimaru" before being "Ara".</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ghost Kiss

Naruto didn't know what to do anymore. The small girl who had sobbed herself to sleep in his lap had no control over her looks nor the people who belittled her for them. She had only been ten for a month, for Kami's sake! He doubted that the poor little thing could take much more abuse before snapping. Her faTheyther, Sasuke, was nearly always gone, and her older brothers had little to do with her outside of home life. It saddened him, really. 

He knew Ara was happy at home, that she loved her family, but if he could take her into his own household, he wouldn't hesitate for a second. 

Perhaps what irritated the Jinchuuriki so much was that she hadn't done anything. It was much like his own situation. 

_Orochimaru._

Naruto hissed softly at the echo of the name, spit like a curse and hitting twice as hard as a slap. 

They never said anything when he was around, no, not in front of the Hokage. Ara was a beloved student alongside the other Sannin. Ara was perhaps the kindest soul Naruto had ever had the fortune of meeting. 

_"Naruto-sensei?"_

_"Yes, Ara?"_

_She shuffled her feet a little and looked down. "Can you teach me to henge?"_

_His eyebrows rose. "Why?"_

_"So the village doesn't have to see me anymore. So I don't have to deal with them."_

_he had to think quickly. Saying yes would teach her to hide from her problems, to avoid them. To deny her would be to erase himself from the people that she would go to. he picked her up and set her on his lap instead. "You know the marks on my face? The whiskers?"_

_She nodded._

_"Do you know what they symbolize?"_

_"They're Lord Kurama's marks. He left them on you when you were a baby."_

_"Do you know what else they mean?"_

_Her brow furrowed, delicate coal eyebrows creating divots between them. "What else they mean?"_

_"The villagers hated me for a long time because I was the Jinchuuriki of the beast that took away the beloved Yondaime. It was these marks that told everyone who I was, who I carried inside me. Do you know what that means?"_

_"They were what signalled the villagers to attack you."_

_"You have these marks too."_

_She gasped softly, hands unconsciously coming up to her cheeks. He giggled._

_"Maybe not so literally. But you have marks that have the same meaning as my scars. Your eyes are your marks. They're what tell people that you've got Orochimaru's power. Just like I have Kurama's. Do you understand?"_

_She little hiccup pushed past her lips and she buried her face in his chest. "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you."_

_"You don't need to thank me, Ara. That's what I'm here for."_

* * *

Terasu Hyuuga was the elder of the Uchiha-Hyuuga twins and the more skillful. She predominately took after her father, and it showed in the quiet elegance and calm power her gaze carried. She was a scholar and a fighter, a powerhouse and a intellect. it was only natural that she would be the first of their generation to create her own jutsu. 

In her family, outside of her brother, Terasu felt closest to her estranged cousin. Ara was a strange duck, yes, choosing to neglect her potential as a Sage to work on taijutsu and ninjutsu. Despite her oddity, Terasu thrived on the girl's unfailing kindness and curiosity, often taking her to research or study something exotic from the other Kages or when there were foreign peddlers coming through town. Now, Terasu hoped to gain Ara's attention once more by showing her a jutsu she had made herself.

She had tested it, of course, before she came here. She had to be sure it worked before she showcased it. It turned out that her, as she called it, Protective Soul, was named Neji Hyuuga. Apparently he was one of her mother's cousins who died in the Fourth Great Shinobi War. He had been a very good, if strict, tutor for her Gentle Fist and she had progressed rapidly under his tutelage. She intended to introduce Neji to Ara and Ara to Neji tonight, if her cousin ever showed up.

* * *

"Naruto-sama?"

The Hokage looked up to see Terasu in the window and couldn't help a sigh of relief. Ara wouldn't be alone tonight. "Hey baby raven. What are you doing here?"

"I came to see Ara. I see why she was delayed." The Hyuuga opened the front door and took the youngest Uchiha's hand. "I'll take care of her, Naruto-sama."

"Thanks, Terasu. I'll stop by to tell your parents you'll be later tonight."

"Thank you."

* * *

The next day, Terasu and Ara were in the backyard. 

"So, what was it you wanted to show me?"

"This." The young Chunin grinned uncharacteristically before she wove a flurry of hand signs. "Forbidden Jutsu: Protective Soul!"

Chakra from Kami knows where whirled together, forming into a teenager. He looked like a Hyuuga, with his regal posture and ghostly white eyes. 

"Ara, I would like you to meet my mother's cousin, Neji."

The teen, Neji, looked the ten year old over before a small smile came over his face. His hand reached out and took hers, pulling her to her feet. "Nice to meet you, Ara. Terasu has had nothing but good things to say about you."

The wide-eyed Sannin had nothing to say, only a small huff of shock. "Wow."

Terasu grinned again, triumph on her face. "I know, right? You're the first person who's seen! Not even Kisi."

Shock snapped to elation and Neji found himself trapped about the waist by Ara's iron little arms. "Sweet! I'm glad that you like Terasu-chan. She's really nice, even if Uncle Itachi and my dad did some bad things. I'm really happy to see you, Neji! Oh!" She let him go and stepped back before bowing. "Thank you for what you did in the war. It must have been scary. I'm not happy you died, but i'm happy you died for a good reason. Thank you, Neji-san."

His face showed startlement and surprise. "You're welcome, I suppose. What do you say to something like that?"

Terasu hummed in amusement. "She's been saying it to all of the veterans of that war since she learned about it."

"I see."

"I'm going to let you go for now, okay?"

Neji shrugged. Terasu snapped her fingers and he vanished. 

"Okay, Ara? Would you like to learn? Be careful, though. The Soul that comes for you will most likely be different from mine."

Ara took a deep breath, her one-eighty IQ working at full throttle to think of her own Soul. "Let's do this, then!"

"Okay, so the hand signs are . . . "

* * *

Ara breathed softly in and out, trying to calm herself. Tonight, she was completely alone in the house. Her father was gone on another high-profile ANBU mission, Obito was sleeping over with his best friend Kakashi and Uncle Itachi had taken Mamaru for their monthly Sharingan lessons. So, tonight, she was going to do it and learn who she was bound to in her soul. 

"Forbidden Jutsu: Protective Soul!"

Her eyes were clamped tightly shut until the chakra stopped whirling around.

"Who would you be, little darling?"

The voice made her shiver. Slowly, her eyelids unclamped and she looked up to see a man, skin paper white and hair an inky black. Her own demonic slitted golden eyes started back at her. She squeaked. "Ara."

The man chuckled. "Aren't you just a precious little thing. Would you repeat that, dear? Only the Inuzuka could hear that."

"My name is Ara."

"Ara. It suits you." He looked around himself, finding the room unfamiliar. "Do you know who I am?"

She shook her head rapidly, though she did know. 

"You may call me Orochimaru, sweet thing. Tell me, why would you summon me? And how did you, for that matter. I was dead, last time I checked."

She jumped up from her bed and punched him as hard as she could in the stomach. The move seemed to have taken him by surprise, if the breathless gasping was anything to go by. Her teeth grit and her body shook in a mixture of rage and misery. "I hate you more than anything else in this world, even if you're no longer in it. I know my father isn't guiltless, by no means, but  _you_ are the reason I'm like this!  _You!_   _YOU'RE THE REASON I'M A MONSTER!"_

Gentle hands clasped her shoulders and settled her back on her bed. Orochimaru sunk down to his knees in front of her, pushing the long, straight strands from before her face. "Your father is Sasuke Uchiha, isn't he?"

Still quivering with her pent-up emotions, she just nodded mutely. There wasn't anything else she could do.

"Poor dear. No wonder you're so resentful." He rose and settled himself beside her. He sighed heavily. "I suppose Sasuke never spoke to you too much about his 'bad things', hmm?"

She shook her head mutely, face still lowered as her emotions simmered. 

"Sasuke came to me looking to kill Itachi. I helped him. The trade arrangement between us was that I was to get his body once he had killed Itachi. I went to make good on the deal, as I had put nearly four years into the boy, and he reneged, choosing to absorb me instead. I suppose, though this is only a hazarded guess, that my cells mutated some of Sasuke's, leaving behind, permanently, my DNA in his body. That would explain why you would be able to happen when Itachi had ripped me out with the Totaska Blade. if Sasuke never told you this, I don't think he would tell you about my role in the Fourth War."

This seemed to get the girl's attention and a curious gaze snuck up to meet his. It seemed even her resentment could be quelled by her thirst for knowledge. They were not too different, he mused. "No. You helped in the War? For what side?"

"You see, Sasuke had me revived, in a sense. Kabuto was the other holder of my DNA and Sasuke ripped it from him, using a Zetsu to reincarnate me. I was able to break the Reaper Deal and execute the Edo Tensei on the first four Hokage."

Her eyes widened. "That was you?"

"Indeed, little one." His hand unconsciously stroked her hair, the silken texture akin to that of his own. "I was the only one able to do it. I served Sasuke until I died. Admittedly, he needed my help very little after returning to Konoha, but it was there. i died around the same time Lady Tsunade did, I believe."

"Wow." Ara looked down. "I suppose I need to apologize, then."

"Why, darling?"

SHe rubbed her arm and grinned sheepishly up at him. "You're not as bad as I thought."

He laughed. "I am not a saint, dear. Far from. I did many experiments on human subjects and caused many people untold heartache and physical pain. I don't deserve praise."

"I know all about that." She dismissed. "Well, not all of it, but they did save many of your notes when they raided your hideouts. I've gone through many of them."

He raised an eyebrow. "Have you now?"

She nodded absently, seeming to forget that the object of her ire was playing with her hair like a doting uncle. "Even though I don't practise Medical, I'm not good at it, I have been able to save comrades before because of your work. I'm mostly done, actually. I'm also working with Naruto-sama to see what practical uses the research can provide."

He stared at her for a long time, trying to judge her accurately. "Tell me, what jutsu did you use to summon me here? It wasn't the Edo Tensei."

"Terasu made it. It's called  _Protective Soul_. Apparently, the jutsu matches souls, one living, one dead, and reanimates the second, though only as long as the caster wants. the Soul can't hurt the summoner, something about an impulse to protect that nearly completely overrules all other instincts."

"Interesting. How did she manage to make it?"

"She asked me to look into the Edo Tensei and other reanimation jutsus and I have her the briefings of my findings. She did the rest of the work, though I have no idea how, exactly, she came up with it."

"Do you have your Summons yet, darling?"

She flushed and looked away again, curiosity now replaced with embarrassment. "No. I refused."

"Why?"

"I knew it would be snakes. More pain for a little less work? No thank you. I completely avoid the Sage Arts, though Naruto-sama keeps insisting that I go through the training.

"Why don't you listen?"

"Nobody ever calls me by name. I'm always  _Orochimaru._ And, now having met you in person and realizing it's not as bad as I thought, it was like a curse. It was the worst thing they could say. Dad tried to help, but he isn't around enough. Obito and Mamaru glare people down with their Sharingan, but I can't even do that! Every time I try to use the Sharingan, my eyes burn terribly. Even when I did manage to get it up, my eyes bled. I'm the only Uchiha who can't naturally use the Sharingan."

"Perhaps if you used nature chakra, that would help your eyes."

"You get nature chakra from the Sage Arts. I don't  _want_ to learn them." She shook her head vehemently. 

"Pity. While I may not have been a Sage, I was most certainly a Summoner, possibly the most fluent of them all. But, if you don't want my help before I even offer it, what can I say. You hold my soul in your hands, child. I can only obey."

"I want you to make me normal."

"Miracles are beyond me, I'm afraid."

Something in her broke, he watched it happen. Her face fell in her hands and her prepubescent frame shook with her silent sobs. Some instinct took him and he wrapped her in his arms, tucking her head under her chin. "Darling, there is no need for tears."

"Yes there is! I'm stuck like this forever."

There was a long pause.

"Are you calling me hideous?"

She snapped away from him, her expression beyond horrified. "What? No, you're not ugly. Actually, you're quite exotic-"

"If that's how you feel, then stop calling me ugly."

She pouted, tears drying on her deathly cheeks. "I didn't call you ugly, though." 

"You just said that you were stuck looking like me as if it was some sort of eternal curse."

That stopped her.

"If I am exotic, then you must be as well." He settled her back on his lap, his slender fingers weaving through her hair. "Perhaps we are not traditional beauty, dear, but we are our own flavour of difference, which makes us beautiful. We are exotic, radiant and strange. We can never change that, so why try? No science or medical ninjutsu will make us any different. You must learn, my darling child, that for someone else to love you, you must first."

He felt a soft tug on his hair and glimpsed Ara's fingers weaving into it. 

"Why didn't I think of that?"

Orochimaru rumbled with laughter, letting Sasuke's only daughter and youngest child fall asleep to the thrum of his borrowed heartbeat.

* * *

"Naruto-sama?"

The blonde looked up from his work, grinning brightly to see Ara at the door.

"Come in! I've been trying to think of a way to ditch paperwork. Maybe you can help?"

"Finish more of it and there will be less."

"Pah!" He threw his hands up very petulantly, slumping back in the oversized chair. "So, whatcha here for?"

She straightened the cream overdress and her thin Uchiha belt on top of her black bodysuit. "Teach me the Summons. I would also like your help finding the Snakes so that I may learn their Sage Arts."

The Hokage beamed.

 

 

 

 

 


End file.
